Rosario Steals Show With Exciting Glimpse Into Future

The buzz may have been surrounding Dominic Smith for his major league debut, but it was the prized Mets shortstop prospect, Amed Rosario, who ended up in the limelight.

Rosario was in Smith’s shoes less than two weeks ago and is still working out his kinks in the majors, but was living the high life in Philadelphia on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a game winning home run in the ninth inning.

“I’ve been seeing that stuff all year,” Smith said. “I’m finally glad that he can show everybody that stuff, playing on TV everyday.”

Philadelphia evened the game back up in the third on a run-scoring double from Tommy Joseph, but Lugo registered a pair of strikeouts to keep the Phils at bay.

Rosario led off the fifth with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before coming around to score on a base knock from Neil Walker.

Cespedes then gave the Mets some breathing room with his fourth RBI of the evening, a single to bring Walker home from third to make it a then 6-4 game.

Southpaw Josh Smoker relieved Lugo with one out in the sixth and allowed an inherited run to score, but with help from Paul Sewald who closed out the inning, the Mets remained in front.

Smith, who recorded his first big league hit in the fourth, came out as part of a double switch in the sixth, finishing his debut going 1-for-3 at the dish.

“More than a teammate, I feel like [Smith] is my brother,” Rosario said. “And the same excitement he is feeling, I am feeling it for him.”

In the eighth, Cesar Hernandez took Jerry Blevins deep to tie the game in the late goings, but Rosario played hero by launching his first big league home run in the ninth to propel the Mets to victory.

“It’s just a dream come true,” Rosario said. “The boys did a great job and I’m happy we were able to respond at a time it was needed.”

It was exciting to see contributions from all three of Michael Conforto, Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith on Friday, the core group of young players the Mets will look to build around in coming seasons.

For Rosario, the No. 2 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, it was a real morale booster making a difference e in a big spot against a division rival.

“Even though I’ve had a bad couple of days, this really helps my confidence,” Rosario said. “I try not to think too much about what’s happened in the past. This really helps.”

The Mets will look to take home their third straight victory on Saturday night, with the young guns in the lineup looking to lead the charge again.

Rob Piersall is a fourth-year student at SUNY New Paltz, studying journalism with a minor in communications. He is also the managing editor for his school's newspaper, The Oracle. A Mets fan since the age of six in 2001, Rob is senior editor here at MMO. His favorite thing is reporting breaking Mets news and transactions as well as writing columns. He is also ready to see what Mickey Callaway brings to the table in 2018. LGM! Follow Rob on Twitter: @RobPiersall.